


Altitude

by javajunkie



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-09 15:02:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1147394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/javajunkie/pseuds/javajunkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all the random things Mindy Lahiri imagined herself doing on a Sunday evening, making out with Danny Castellano on an airplane was not one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little teaser for what I hope to make into a longer story over the hiatus. I hope you enjoy it!

Altitude: Chapter One

Of all the random things Mindy Lahiri imagined herself doing on a Sunday evening, making out with Danny Castellano on an airplane definitely wasn't on the list. It wasn't something that had remotely occurred to her until it was happening. And then it was really happening. Like, nearly in plain view of the entire cabin happening. Mindy wasn't sure just how far things would have escalated if a flight attendant didn't find them, her unaffected sigh hinting that this wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence on flights as she muttered, "You guys need to go back to your seats."

Both of them murmured stilted apologies, Danny smiling slightly as Mindy stuck her chin to her chest. What had they gotten themselves into? They'd just written that apology email to Cliff, and now she could feel the heat from where Danny's hands had been on her waist, and the memory of his mouth against hers made her cheeks flush.

They returned to their seats, Danny stepping back to let her slip into the window seat. She pointedly looked out the window, hoping he would read the signs and give her a moment to work through what just happened. But Danny Castellano was not a man who read the signs.

"Mindy-"

"Can we please not have this conversation right now," she said, unable to look at him. Her mind was still all muddled, and she was afraid if she looked at him her mouth would find its way to his again, and things would get even more confused. She covered her mouth with her hand, propping her elbow on the windowsill.

"Okay," he said, voice uncertain.

Her phone buzzed, and she glanced down at the screen, her stomach plummeting when she saw it was a text from Cliff. She stared at the text, willing herself to feel some sort of definitive anything at the communication that would clue her into what the hell she was supposed to do next. The plan had been to get Cliff back. An unexpectedly heated make out session didn't necessarily change that plan. But maybe it did. Dammit, why was her life so confusing?

Danny looked at the phone and then her, his jaw tightening. He paused for a second before saying, "You're still going to try to get Cliff back, aren't you?"

"No," she said, although the word sounded false even to her ears. "I mean, I don't know. This is very…"

"You've got to be kidding me," Danny murmured, shaking his head.

"…confusing," Mindy finished, giving him a look. "This is very confusing for me, Danny."

"Well, I'm sorry for confusing you."

Mindy bristled at his tone and loudly went, "I didn't-" she felt the gaze of the passengers across the aisle on her, and she lowered her voice as she hissed, "I didn't ask you to kiss me, Danny. I mean, I was just trying to get some tonic water, and then you just…attacked me."

"Attacked you?" Danny returned, voice raising. "I attacked you?"

"Yes, you did," Mindy held, unable to back away from his challenging gaze.

"Yeah, well, if I remember correctly you attacked me right back."

Her cheeks flushed at the memory and she glanced over his shoulder, noticing a pair of teenagers a row back who were eagerly listening in on the conversation. They caught her gaze and quickly found something on their iPhones interesting.

"Look, let's just not talk about this right now. It's too close quarters."

"Whatever," he murmured, crossing his arms over his chest. He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. With his neck stretched back his Adam's apple became more pronounced, and Mindy had to actually remind herself to stop staring before she turned back and glanced out the window. They spent the remainder of the flight in silence.

**********************************

While they waited for their luggage at JFK, it was an unstated challenge to see who would talk first. Both remarkably stubborn, they stood in complete silence for fifteen minutes before Danny finally said, "We can just forget it happened."

Mindy looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"We can forget it happened," Danny repeated, gaze trained on the revolving luggage belt. "It was, you know, the altitude or something. Made our heads all screwy."

"The altitude," Mindy repeated slowly. "Yeah, the altitude made our heads screwy. It made us act strange. Do things we would never do…without the altitude."

"Right," he said, finally glancing over at her. "If that's what you want. Is that…what you want?"

She swallowed hard, shoving her hands into the pockets on her sweatshirt. To be honest, she didn't know what she wanted anymore. As surprising as what happened on that plane was, something about it had felt almost inevitable. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't felt things gradually shift between her and Danny over the past few months. Something had been there even before her engagement, and then everything after.

Her luggage came around on the conveyor belt and Danny walked forward and got it for her. She took it from him with a soft thank you, watching him quietly as he went back and retrieved his own luggage. She could picture it then. The two of them together. She could picture them taking weekend trips and him harping that she over-packed as he hoisted her luggage into the trunk of the car. She could picture taking the subway into work together, and finding little moments in the doctor's lounge between cases. But she also saw what could come next.

"I can't do it," she murmured, catching Danny off guard. He glanced over at her and asked, "You can't do what?"

"I can't risk losing…," she trailed off, shaking her head. "You mean too much to me, Danny, and you know my track record. It always ends, and then things are never the same. And I can't do that to us. I can't-"

"Hey," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down."

"I'm sorry," she said, unsure who exactly she was apologizing to, Danny or herself. "I feel like a grade-A jerk right now."

"You're not a grade-A jerk," he murmured. "Come on, let's go grab some taxis."

She nodded, following him out of the terminal. After a moment she tentatively asked, "Are we okay, then?"

Danny took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, we're okay."


	2. Chapter Two

Sometimes things don't turn out like you expect. Mindy was accustomed to this, as when she reflected on her life, the last thirty-two years had practically been one unexpected event after another. She became a partner at Shulman and Associates before the age of thirty. The man she thought she would marry dumped her and married a Russian bagel lady. Danny Castellano aggressively made out with her on a flight from L.A. to New York. Her life was a hodge podge of unexpected moments, and she hoped and prayed that this would be another one of those moments as she rode the elevator up to her apartment.

Maybe Cliff wasn't waiting for her. He had been pretty broken up about the Casey stuff, and weren't lawyers supposed to be all cynical or something? The email hadn't been that good. At least that's what Mindy told herself when the elevator doors opened.

And then she saw Cliff standing outside her apartment.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath. Of course the email had been that good. It was freaking genius and read like a Nicholas Sparks novel. How could he not show up at her door and beg her to take him back?

"Cliff, what are you doing here?" she asked, reaching into her purse and pulling out her keys.

"Can I come inside?" he asked tentatively. "We need to talk."

"It's been a really long day," she said, feigning a yawn. "Can we do this another time?"

"But, I'm here now," Cliff stammered. Mindy sighed, turning around and unlocking the door. For someone in a profession that dealt with people, Cliff was pretty bad at reading them.

"Fine, let's just make it quick. I have an early start at work tomorrow."

"Okay, sure," he said, following her in. She took off her coat and tossed it on the couch, and she heard him shut the door behind her. After depositing her bag on the counter, she turned around and saw he was taking his coat off, too.

"You're taking your coat off," she said unhappily.

"Yeah, it's like eighty degrees in here," he said, loosening his scarf. "You know, I always meant to tell you that you set the heat too high in here."

"It's not set too high," she returned irritably. "I just run cold. My Indian blood wasn't made for winter."

Cliff laughed uncomfortably, dragging his fingers through his hair. "I don't know why I'm talking about the temperature of your apartment. It's not like I have a say in it. Unless the offer to move in still stands." She gave him a look and he quickly added, "Which would be ridiculous."

"Yeah," he said. "That would be considering you broke up with me."

"That's what I wanted to talk about," he began. "I got your email, and it really got me to thinking about things. About us."

"Cliff-"

"I messed up," he interjected, his face plain and open. "It's simple as that. We had a great thing going, and I messed it up. I should have trusted you. You're a good person, and I know that you never would have done something that would have hurt me, or hurt us. I realize that now. I'm sorry for overreacting. It was stupid and immature, and I promise to never do it again in the future."

"The future," she murmured bleakly.

"I want you back, Mindy," he said. "And considering all those calls and emails, I think you want me back, too."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

The next morning Mindy woke up with what felt like a hangover. It probably was from the sugar binge she went on before bed. After Cliff left she had been so upset that she put away not one but two pints of ice cream. She kept thinking about what he said before he left.

"I'm not looking for an answer now," he had said, looking so earnest that it made her want to cry. "But, I'm not giving up on us. We're good together, Mindy. We both know that. I'll wait until you're ready to try this again."

She groaned, covering her face with her hands. How had she gotten herself into all of this? If he had shown up even twenty-four hours ago, everything would have gone differently. He would have said he wanted her back, and before he could even get that last part out she would have had him horizontal on the sofa. Getting him back was all she could talk about for the past two days. It was all plans and schemes, and drafting the perfect email.

And then Danny had to go along and ruin everything.

Her phone buzzed and she picked it up from the nightstand, stomach unclenching when she saw that the text was from Morgan – one of the uncomplicated men in her life.

Dr. L, where r you? Patients r here.

Btw, how do u know a raccoon bite is infected?

...asking for a friend.

A few seconds later her phone buzzed again.

The friend is me.

I'm the friend.

She saw the time at the top of her phone and swore under her breath, quickly climbing out of bed. Her office appointments started at 9:30 and it was already 9:45. She must have forgotten to set an alarm the night before. Most of her clothes were dirty – she always put off doing laundry before a trip – but she was able to find a work dress that she'd actually forgotten she owned in the back of the closet. A pair of heels, cardigan, and a few swipes of makeup later, she was out the door.

She took a cab to save time and ended up at the office at 10:07 on the dot. She saw Jeremy and was about to launch into some elaborate excuse when Jeremy said, "You don't have to worry, Mindy. Danny covered your patients."

"He did?"

"And, might I add, without even the slightest bit of gloating."

"He even made up an excuse for you," Betsy said from behind the reception desk. "He said you had to go in for an emergency delivery. He was very convincing."

"I'll have to thank him," Mindy stammered, glancing around to see if she'd spot him. Her eyes lingered on his empty office. "Where is he?"

"The hospital," Jeremy said. "One of his patients actually ended up going into labor. Ironic, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sure is."

 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

Later that afternoon Mindy went in to the hospital to see a few patients. She had one ultrasound scheduled, and then two consultations afterwards. The consultations took longer than expected, and she went into the doctor's lounge to pass the time before her scheduled c-section. She was snacking on a Jello cup, Real Housewives on the television, when she heard the door open behind her.

"Mindy?"

Her entire body tensed at his voice, and she silently told herself to calm down as Danny stepped around the couch and sat next to her. They'd sat together tons of times in the lounge without there being any awkwardness. This was their place. It was where he first told her that stupid Bruce Springsteen story and she had shown him his first episode of Real Housewives. There was no reason to be uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You were late getting in this morning."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just forgot to set my alarm," she said. "Thank you for seeing my patients, by the way. I was convinced I'd walk into a disaster when I got there."

He shrugged and said, "I was already at the office to read through some charts. Figured I'd take one for the team."

She smiled slightly. "Well, the team thanks you."

They both were silent for a while, Danny staring listlessly at the TV screen while Mindy, who always had something to say, found herself at a lack of words. The show went to a commercial break and Danny broke the silence with, "This is weird."

"Yes, thank you" Mindy sighed, feeling relieved that she wasn't the only one who felt like crawling out of her skin. "I didn't want to be the one to say it."

He looked over at her, and before she knew it they were both laughing. She covered her face with her hands, shaking her head.

"This is ridiculous," she said, voice high-pitched. "We're grownups. We're logical and rational. We should be able to move past this. I mean, it was just a kiss."

"Yeah," Danny said, nodding.

"I've done way worse with Jeremy, and there's no weirdness between us."

Danny was quiet for a moment before he suggested, "Maybe should go back to Cliff."

That ended any humor left in the room.

"What?"

"Look, that was the plan, wasn't it? Before all of this happened? You were going to win him back."

"Yeah," Mindy said uncertainly.

"Then that's what you should do. Win him back."

"Danny-"

"He makes you happy. And as your friend –" he paused for a second, lending more significance to the word, "- I want you to be happy."

Mindy considered what he said for a moment and then asked, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I'm not the only one who needs to be happy here, buddy."

He waved his hand dismissively and said, "I'll be fine."

"Danny-"

"Enough with all this feelings crap," he said. "I'm starting to feel like I'm on Oprah or something."

"That's impossible. Oprah's show is off the air."

"You know what I mean," he said, giving her a look. "Just, go back to Cliff. Be happy. You deserve that."

She smiled softly, her eyes tearing up. "You know, you're really a good guy, Danny Castellano."

He glanced over at her and said, "I have my moments."

 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

 

She called Cliff that night and asked him to meet her at a bar in the city. They settled on 8:00, and when she showed up a few minutes past eight he was already there at a table he'd saved for them. He was dressed casually, and she noticed he was wearing her favorite sweater. It was a dark blue; she'd always told him it brought out his eyes.

"It's great to see you," he said, standing up. They hugged briefly, his lips grazing her cheek. They sat down at the table and she took in his expectant gaze.

"I'm really glad you called me," he said. "I wanted to talk about last night."

"Cliff-"

"I realize now that just showing up at your door probably wasn't the best idea. I just wanted to see you, and when you weren't home I just figured I'd wait. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but after…"

"It's fine," she said, fingers curling around her clutch. "I actually wanted to talk about last night, too."

"Okay," he said.

"I need you to know, that when I left you all those messages and sent you those emails, I meant what I said. I really, truly did. You were all that I wanted and I wanted nothing more than for us to work again. But, something happened recently that, I don't know, made me think about things."

"Something happened," Cliff repeated slowly. He hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Was it something with Casey?"

"No," Mindy said immediately, shaking her head. "It wasn't Casey."

"Okay, so what happened?"

"It's not important," she said dismissively. No matter how hard he pressed, there wasn't a chance in hell she was divulging what happened. "What's important – what I'm trying to get across – is that I can't be with you."

It came out harsher than she intended, and she could see the pain clearly written on his face.

"I'm sorry," Mindy said, frowning. "I probably should have thought of a gentler way to put that."

"No, it's fine. I'm a lawyer, remember? I appreciate frankness."

She smiled a bit at his attempt at a joke and said, "You're great, Cliff. You really are. You'll have no trouble snatching up another girl."

He nodded, taking a long drag off of his drink. He set it down on the table afterwards and said, "You really aren't going to tell me what happened?"

"No, I'm not."

"Because, you know, there is this thing called attorney-client-privilege."

She laughed, shaking her head. "Still a no."

He held his drink up and said, "Well, you can't blame a guy for trying."

 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

 

"I heard from a little birdie that you and Cliff were at The Loft last night," Peter said the next day in the office, grinning wide. "You guys finally get around to bumping uglies again?"

Mindy's eyes went wide and she demanded, "What? How did you –"

"A dude never reveals his sources," Peter said. "It goes against the bro code."

Across the floor Danny shut his office door with just a bit too much force.

"It was me," Morgan piped in. "I was walking home, seeing if there were any good leftovers in the trash cans, and I saw you guys through the window."

"Oh my God," Mindy said. "First of all, we need to pay you more. No one outside of a BBC drama starring Kate Winslet should be picking food out of trash cans."

"It passes the time," Morgan said with a shrug.

"And second, how did you know Cliff and I broke up?"

"Dr. P and I were locked in the men's bathroom," Morgan began, filling her in on the previous day's action. "And we heard him singing along to Jewel and crying."

"Oh my God, he was listening to Jewel?"

"We were as surprised and revolted as you," Peter said. "But anyway, we figured you dumped him, but after we took him out and bought him some shots, we found out he was the one who did the dumping."

"Yep," Mindy said in a tight voice. "That was him."

"But, you guys are cool now, right, Dr. L?" Morgan asked.

"Look, nothing happened with Cliff last night. It was just two friends and former lovers meetings for a drink."

"Uh huh," Peter said, giving her a look. "Like any of us are believing that."

"I mean it," Mindy said. "We just talked, that's all."

Peter leaned forward a bit, studying her face, and said, "Something happened. I can tell."

"You can – what?"

"I'm super good at reading facial expressions. That's how I scored half the girls I slept with at Duke."

Mindy sighed and said, "Fine, he asked if we could get back together, and I said no."

Peter's goading smile dropped and he said, "Are you kidding me? He asked if you could get back together and you said no? What's wrong with you?"

"Okay, that is more than a little offensive," Mindy said. "What I do with my love life is none of your concern. So…stop being weirdly invested in it."

"I just want you to follow your heart, Dr. L," Morgan sing-songed.

Mindy cleared her throat a bit and muttered, "Thank you, Morgan. Now, I'm going to see my patients. You guys continue doing….whatever it was you were doing before I got here."

 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

At the end of her office, Mindy walked over to the elevators and pressed the down button. As she waited Danny walked over, a navy checkered scarf peeking out from the top of his pea coat.

"Hey," she said, her gaze staying on him for only a moment before she turned her attention to the still-closed elevator doors.

"Hey."

After a few more seconds – both of them silent – the doors opened and Mindy cursed her luck when she locked eyes with none other than Cliff Gilbert. She hesitated for a moment and Danny walked in first. She could see he was clenching his jaw.

"Mindy," Cliff prompted, and she mumbled an apology as she stepped into the elevator.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Good," she said, nodding. "You?"

"Good," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"That's good."

Neither of them said more than that, and she could feel Danny's gaze on her. After what felt like an eternity, they reached the bottom floor and the doors slid open. Cliff stepped out first, as eager to leave the elevator as her, and tossed over his shoulder, "Have a nice night."

He hurried off into the night and Danny asked, "What the hell was that?"

"What?" she said, glancing at him.

"You and Cliff. I thought you two made up."

"Made up? Where did you…" she trailed off when she remembered the snippet of conversation he'd heard earlier, promptly followed by his slamming the office door. "We're not back together. We had drinks, but that's it."

"And you're okay with that?" he asked in a strange voice, trying to sound nonchalant and failing spectacularly.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm okay with that."


	3. Chapter Three

Altitude: Chapter Three

Two months passed by almost without notice from the airplane-makeout-incident, and things seemed to go back to normal. Mindy went on a few uneventful dates, and Danny complained when she made him watch the new season of American Idol when they were stuck at the hospital late. Balance had been restored at Shulman & Associates, and Mindy couldn't have been happier. And when Mindy walked past a small sushi restaurant on Broadway and saw Danny on what could only be a date, she told herself it was a good thing. They were supposed to move on. That's how the friendship only thing worked.

But that night when she laid in bed watching late night episodes of Parks and Recreation, she wasn't happy. She was watching the episode where Ben and Leslie break up because he's her superior at the office, and Leslie gets all worked up when the local newscaster takes an interest in Ben. Mindy had always related to Leslie Knope, what with both of them being strong and powerful career women, but this episode took it to a whole different level. She saw Leslie purposely divert Ben's potential date with the newscaster, and she thought of how she almost went ahead and texted Danny with a fake work emergency when she saw him on the date.

She was embarrassed to admit that what stopped her was not loyalty to their friendship, but the fact that she couldn't think up a good enough fake work emergency. For someone who regularly delivered babies, she wasn't the best under pressure.

Danny deserved to be happy. That was what she kept telling herself that night and the next day when she went into work. It wasn't like she hadn't been on dates. They were adults. It was expected they would go on dates, and maybe even do things after those dates. And, no way, the thought of him doing that with another woman made her want to go Nancy Kerrigan on someone.

"You are not jealous," she murmured during the elevator ride up to the office. "You are not jealous, but, maybe you should warn him that the girl had crazy eyes. It's for his own good. He could be shanked in his sleep."

The doors slid open and she walked into the office, almost immediately approached by Peter, who looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Why do you look so happy?" she asked.

"The silence has been broken," he gushed, walking with Mindy toward her office. "Maria Menouonos sent me a letter."

"Seriously? Even after that stunt you pulled in LA?"

"Sure, it was a grand gesture," Peter continued. "But sometimes, there is a need for a grand gesture. Go big or go home, baby! And I went big."

"Yeah, national television big."

"And it paid off," he said, happily handing Mindy an envelope. She pulled out the letter and unfolded it, scanning the text. It didn't take long before she gasped and said, "Oh my God, Peter, this is a restraining order."

"I know!" Peter returned, still strangely chipper.

"Why are you so excited? She took legal action against you. That is not something to be excited about. That's something to worry about, actually."

"Don't be ridiculous," he said easily, taking the letter from her and folding it again, slipping it in the envelope. "The point is not the content of the letter, Mindy. It's the fact that she sent it."

"No," Mindy said slowly. "I think the point here is very much the fact that she took out a restraining order against you."

"It's just her way of reaching out. I'm telling you, she wants me."

"Peter, she sent you a restraining order!" Mindy repeated, not understanding how this very clear message had not made its way into Peter's thick head.

"No, see, what I've learned over the years is that when girls say no – like by sending you a restraining order – what they're really doing is saying yes. That no is a cry for attention. And I, Peter Prentiss, and more than willing to give that attention."

Mindy shook her head and murmured, "You're going to end up in jail for stalking Maria Menouonos, aren't you?"

"It's all for love, Mindy. It's all for love!"

Mindy shook her head and walked into her office. She took off her coat and draped it over the back of her seat. She heard Peter say hello to someone, and then heard Danny's voice boom through the office. She busied herself for a few minutes with checking her email and scrolling through her texts, and when she thought she stalled enough, walked out of her office and headed to Danny's.

He glanced up when she walked in and asked, "What are you doing in here? Let me guess, you accidentally changed your phone's setting to Spanish again."

"No," she said defensively. "And that only happened once."

"I remember. I spent my entire lunch break fixing it."

"You know how I get without my phone," she held.

Danny smirked and returned, "Yeah, I do. You get very angry."

"So, how was your weekend?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It was okay. Nothing that exciting."

"Really?" she pressed, thinking of him in that sushi restaurant. That in itself should be something exciting to report. Danny usually didn't venture further than German food for an exotic night out. "Nothing exciting happened this weekend? Nothing at all?"

"Why are you badgering me about this?" he asked, peering up at her.

"I saw you at Kona last night," she filled in. "You don't consider that exciting? Your date would be disappointed."

Danny leaned back in his chair and said, "Fine, yeah, I was on a date. But why is that any of your business?"

"It's not. So, where'd you meet?"

Danny laughed and said, "I thought it was none of your business."

"Oh please, like that's ever kept me from prying," she shot back.

"I can't argue that," Danny said blandly. "Alright, fine, we met at my building. Both of us always get our mail at the same time after work."

"That's a pretty good meet-cute," Mindy admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"A meet – actually, I don't even what to know what means."

"I'm surprised you'd date someone else from your building after that other girl," Mindy said. "You know, the one who was obsessed with you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, it seemed like a decent enough idea at the time. She asked me to get dinner that night, and I was out of frozen dinners, so I thought, why not?"

"Wow, I'm glad ti hear that you have such a high standard for going on dates."

"Yeah, well, let's be serious here, Mindy. I'm sure you've gone out for a lot less."

She knew she should have been offended, but she also knew that she'd probably gone a bit too far in commenting on his dating standards like that. She went to leave, but unable to help herself, she tossed back, "She has crazy eyes, by the way. So, if she sleeps over I'd make sure to hide the knives."

"That's real nice, Mindy," he called back, voice unhappy.

"Just looking out for you, Danny!"

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

The day passed quickly and Mindy was even able to leave the office an hour early when her last consultation cancelled. She stood in front of the elevator, checking her Twitter as she waited for it to come to the floor.

"Are you ever not on that thing?" Danny asked, standing next to her. She glanced over at him and said, "Danny, people who live in the 21st century do more with their phone than just make calls."

"I do more than make calls, too," he held stubbornly. "I play Tetris on it."

Mindy snorted. "Tetris? Seriously?"

"Don't knock my game."

"Sorry, but it's Tetris. It's what, like, eighty year old men play while waiting to get their free cup of coffee at the bank."

The elevator doors slid open and both of them walked in.

"Wait, there's a bank near here that serves coffee? Which one?"

"It was a hypothetical, Danny. I don't know what actual banks serve coffee."

"Well, then why would you-"

He broke off when the elevator came to a sudden stop, the sounds of the elevator wires making a loud squeaking noise like when someone slams down on the break pedal in a car. Danny jerked forward while Mindy careened to the side, catching her fall with her hand planted against the elevator wall.

"What the hell?" he said loudly, pressing a bunch of buttons to try to get the elevator going. Mindy rushed forward and pried his hand away from the console.

"Danny, what the hell are you doing? Haven't you seen any movie where an elevator stalls? You never press buttons! That's what makes it drop down to our very painful deaths!"

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, reaching forward to press buttons again.

"No," she said loudly, swatting his hand away. "I will not die because you are too stubborn to do something other than pressing a bunch of random buttons. Try using the emergency phone."

Danny picked up the receiver and put it to his ear.

"It's dead," he said in a toneless voice, putting it back in the phone bay. Mindy felt her stomach drop, like the elevator did moments before, and whipped out her phone in hopes that there was service.

"Dammit, there's no service either," she said. Panic began to build in her chest and she said, "Danny, there's no service. The emergency phone doesn't work. We're going to die in here. We're going to die, and I'll never know who wins American Idol."

"We're not going to die," Danny said dismissively. "People will notice that this elevator isn't moving and they'll look into it."

"What if it falls? You know, like the springs let loose or something?"

"We're on the third floor," Danny said slowly. "Even if it does fall, I think we'll be fine."

Mindy let out a long breath and then said, "Well, now that we're not dying I'm bored."

Danny shook his head and said, "Really, you go from impending death to bored? There's no in between?"

Mindy lowered herself to the ground, stretching out her legs. "Let's play a game."

"No," Danny said immediately, sitting next to her.

"Why not? Come on, what else is there to do?"

"Sit alone with your thoughts," Danny mused. "You probably don't know how to do that because of all that time with your phone. You've forgotten how to just be."

Mindy gave him a look and said, "Alright, Deepak Chopra, I know how to just be. I just prefer to be while doing other things. It's called multi-tasking."

Danny laughed, shaking out his legs casually. "Fine, what do you want to play?"

"You caved very easily," Mindy noted.

"Pick a game right now or we're going back to sitting in silence."

"Fine," she said quickly, gnawing on her bottom lip. "Um, how about truth or dare?"

"No way. Besides, what dares could we really do in an elevator car?"

"Fair enough," Mindy said. "Um, screw, marry, or kill."

"I don't even know what that is," he said, giving her a look. Mindy was more than happy to explain, and launched into, "Oh, it's this really fun game where I give you three celebrities and-"

"No, next game," he interrupted, shaking his head.

"We don't have to play with celebrities," Mindy offered. "We could use people at work."

"Next game," he repeated.

"You know, this doesn't work if you reject all my games. There isn't some infinite number of ones you can play in an elevator car."

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll play this next one."

Mindy frowned and said, "I should have left screw, marry, or kill for last. Um, I guess we can do twenty questions."

"Let me guess, you ask twenty questions?"

"Yeah, but we can alternate. That way, you know, you don't have to think up twenty in a row."

Danny scratched the side of his head and said, "Alright, fine, you go first."

"Okay, um, what is your favorite movie?"

She expected some mulling – favorite movie usually took some serious consideration – but Danny immediately replied, "The Godfather."

"The Godfather," she repeated with a wide grin. "Yeah, that makes sense. I can totally see that as your favorite movie."

"That movie shows you what a real man should be like," Danny said. "Family. Loyalty. Duty."

"Hired killings," Mindy added dubiously. "Money laundering. But you know, I do advocate the amount of pasta all the guys eat."

Danny gave her a look and said, "I never said everything is worth emulating. But, a lot of it…"

"Okay, okay," Mindy said. "It's your turn."

"Fine, same question. What's your favorite movie?"

Mindy had thought about it when she asked the question, and thus had a relatively quick turnaround to the question. "It s a three-way tie. You've Got Mail, Gone With The Wind, and When Harry Met Sally."

"Let me guess, because they're all love stories?"

"No," Mindy said. "Because they each offer their own sort of hope for finding love. With You've Got Mail, it's the hope that you'll find love in even the most unexpected places – like the handsome jerk who shuts down your bookstore. With Gone With The Wind, it's the hope that you'll find someone who loves you in spite of your flaws, in fact it's those flaws he loves the most. And When Harry Met Sally is just pure genius."

"I've come around to it," Danny admitted. The movie had been on TV a few weeks ago and he actually sat down and watched the entire thing.

"Really? You've come around to When Harry Met Sally?"

"It's not half bad," he said. She went to ask him more, but he interrupted and said, "Your turn."

"Okay, do you have any hidden talents?" she asked, crossing her heels.

"Hidden talents?"

"Yeah, like you can juggle, or you can do the cinnamon challenge without gagging."

Danny smirked. "Okay, sure, um, I can cook pretty well."

"Really," Mindy said, impressed. "You can cook? What do you cook?"

"That's a second question," he pointed out.

"Whatever, it goes with the first. Tell me, Danny. What's your specialty?"

"Baked pasta," he said. "I add chopped sausage to it and some basil on top before baking it."

"Whoah, that's like serious cooking," Mindy said slowly. "You do realize now that I will con you into cooking for me some day."

Danny laughed. "I guess I walked into that one."

"Can you make garlic bread, too? Because, I happen to believe that no pasta dish is complete without a side of garlic bread. I know some people might say that's carb overload. But I tend to think that those people are stupid and completely wrong."

"Yeah, I could probably make garlic bread."

"You are officially my new favorite person. Alright, your turn. Same question?

"Sure, why not," he said with a shrug.

"Alright, are you ready?"

He smirked and said, "I'm ready."

"Okay. I can name every contestant that has been on Project Runway with the corresponding season."

Danny gaped at her. "That's your hidden talent? Really?"

"Danny, that's 12 seasons worth of people. That's a lot of people." When he didn't say anything she demanded, "Look more impressed."

"I'm taking back that question."

"You can't do that," Mindy argued. "It violates the integrity of the game."

"The integrity of the game?" Danny returned, laughing. "It's twenty questions."

"Exactly my point."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, you go."

"Thank you," she said succinctly. "You're going to be glad you let me go. This is one of my better questions. If you weren't a doctor, what would you be?"

He shrugged and said, "I don't know, probably at some stupid office job wishing I was a doctor. This has always been my dream. I wouldn't want to be anything else."

Mindy smiled softly and said, "That's nice."

She expected him to ask the same question, and began to think of her answer. She'd definitely want to be an actress, because she was pretty sure she'd say the shit out of some lines. Not to mention all the free stuff you got.

"Why did you ask about my date?" Danny asked after a moment, taking Mindy off guard.

"What?"

"That's my question," Danny explained. "Earlier today you asked about my date. I want to know why."

Mindy paused and then said, "I was just curious. You know me, always looking into other people's business."

"But-"

"I gave you an answer," Mindy interrupted, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "It's my turn."

"Fine," Danny said, something in his tone making her skin tingle. "Ask your question."

"Um, favorite singer?" she asked weakly, already knowing the answer.

"Bruce Springsteen. Were you jealous that I went on a date?"

She narrowed her eyes. "No, I find it weird. I mean, you went for sushi. You don't even like sushi. It's raw fish, and you always go on about how you pay someone to cook your food, not plop it down raw on a plate."

"Your turn," he said.

She didn't like this game anymore, and she said, "Why don't we try something different."

"It's your turn, Mindy."

"I don't want to play," she said stubbornly. She didn't want to be here anymore in this small space where she had inadvertently given him the green light to ask her every question she didn't want to answer.

"Fine, then I'll go again," he said, turning so that his gaze met hers. "Does it bother you that I went on that date?"

"Danny-"

"It's a simple question."

She held his gaze and answered, "Fine, yes. The answer is yes. Is that what you want to hear? Yes, it bothered me. It bothered me that you were with someone else. It bothered me that you were out to dinner eating sushi with some other woman. I didn't like it. I know that probably makes me a hypocrite, or whatever else you want to call me, but that's how I felt."

He stared at her, eyes unreadable as he sat there without saying a single word. She could see something stirring in him, and just as he was about to say something back the elevator jerked into action and stopped at the first floor, the doors sliding open.

Danny stood up and brushed off the back of his pants before reaching a hand down to Mindy. She took his hand, wobbling a bit on her heels as she stood. She expected him to let go of her hand, but kept a hold of it, pulling her outside of the building.

"Danny-"

"Tomorrow night I am taking you on a date," he said firmly.

"You're what?"

"I'll pick you up at seven o'clock. Wear something nice. None of those crazy heels of yours, though. We're going to be walking."

"Where are we going?" she asked, smiling slightly as she came to realization that Danny was, in fact, asking her out and she was also, in fact, perfectly fine with that.

"It's a surprise."

"I like surprises," she said.

He grinned and returned, "I know."

He let go of her hand and they headed off to the subway, chatting as if nothing had happened. There was a new energy between them, though, and Mindy had to admit that it felt nice. After so many months denying their mutual feelings, it was a relief to have them out in the open without any drama.

When the subway came to a halt at her stop, she stood and glanced back at Danny to say goodbye. He smiled a bit and said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Min."

Tomorrow, she thought.


End file.
